hard time deciding between schools...

[photographer2008]

Hey, I've never posted on here before, but have browsed on it all year. I got accepted at Mac, Queens, Western and Ottawa, but I'm leaning towards Western and Queens.

 

I'm having a hard time deciding between Western and Queens. I really like Westerns program as it has both PBL and traditional classes. Similarly, there isn't tons of class per day, which gives one a bit more free time. On the other hand, Queen's has a good program too, more class....and the "prestige name."

 

Anybody have any advice?

[RandomGuy]

I disagree that Queen's is a more prestigious medical school than Western. But... before anyone launches into that debate, I'd really recommend that you not worry too much about the name of the school that you'd attend.

 

Do you know people at both schools by any chance?

[supafield]

Hey, I've never posted on here before, but have browsed on it all year. I got accepted at Mac, Queens, Western and Ottawa, but I'm leaning towards Western and Queens.

 

I'm having a hard time deciding between Western and Queens. I really like Westerns program as it has both PBL and traditional classes. Similarly, there isn't tons of class per day, which gives one a bit more free time. On the other hand, Queen's has a good program too, more class....and the "prestige name."

 

Anybody have any advice?

 

Lol as a Western undergrad I've been taught to denounce any Queen's prestige.. however trying to take a semi-unbiased approach.... they are both good programs.... I don't believe Queen's holds a surplus of prestige in a conversation but even if it does that's a brutal reason to chose one school over another that have similar success rates with CaRMS.

 

That's just me though, I'm not the least bit worried of trying to impress people with the name of the medical school I went to.... Getting into medical school in Ontario is impressive enough...

 

Not knowing the real intricacies of either program... I'd say if you come to a stale mate on the program that is right for you.... that the city you'd rather be in would be a bigger factor...

 

Where do your family and friends live.... If you were from Cornwall it may make more sense to Queen's and so on.... If you're from Toronto you're between the schools so look into the campuses and cities and decide which you prefer.... I have lots of good things to say about London and Western if you're wondering about something in particular, and my sister at Queen's loves it there to... my parents think it's a great city.

[blinknoodle]

Hey there,

 

I also suggest you look into the structure of clerkship at each school. As a pre-med, I found it easier to concentrate on the pre-clerkship aspects of medical school (class, etc) but imho, your clerkship experience is equally important.

 

Good luck! Thankfully you can't really make a wrong decision.

[photographer2008]

thanks for the input! I'm currently attending Western, and love the school. And I too have been taught to denounce the prestige And yes, I do know people at Queens as well.

 

One of the things holding me back is the extra half year of classes at Queens, whereas all other schools start clerkship at the start of the third year. I'm wondering if starting clerkship at the start of third year is better?

 

I know for myself I would enjoy that better. It's tough as I know nothing about medical school really!

[medwannabe08]

thanks for the input! I'm currently attending Western, and love the school. And I too have been taught to denounce the prestige And yes, I do know people at Queens as well.

 

One of the things holding me back is the extra half year of classes at Queens, whereas all other schools start clerkship at the start of the third year. I'm wondering if starting clerkship at the start of third year is better?

 

I know for myself I would enjoy that better. It's tough as I know nothing about medical school really!

 

The clerkship structure of UWO is preferable to Queen's.

London is a much better place than Kingston.

London is also a lot closer to Hamilton.

 

I could go on. But you can see which school I think is a better choice for me. Your priorities may be different however.

[blinknoodle]

Personally, I think UWO's clerkship program really made my experience at UWO a positive one.

 

1) Structure-wise, everyone does the core clerkship during 3rd year. The only difference between students is the order. Yes, there is a lottery for your rotation order, but everyone still does core clerkship in 3rd year (no electives). As a down-side, there is also no "staggering" of clinical experiences. Ie. Emergency medicine as a later rotation, as some people might think a background in surgery and medicine will go a long way to help during emerg shifts. 2/140(whatever the class size is these days) will start with their mandatory 2-week Emerg rotation.

 

2) Electives in fourth year. All are pre-CaRMS, after clerkship. 2 weeks are after the CaRMS letter deadline, but this could be your "diversity" elective. I never understood the rationale for electives at the beginning of clerkship (yes, some schools have rotations when students start with away electives). I think the real bonus of 4th year electives, nevermind seeming more competent, but actually experiencing your previous rotations and knowing what you want to go into for residency. You might think you want medicine, but only after doing 6 weeks of inpatient service realise medicine is not what you thought it would be.

 

3) Increased responsibility while being on-call. Yes, you get to experience real call. You will get the first crack at floor issues (except on paeds). As you progress further along with your training, this may seem tedious, but I know I learn better by doing, so I enjoy the calls from the ward. The first time you get a low urine output, you might scratch your head awhile, but you will become proficient by the end of clerkship. Some schools let clerks go home after midnight, or after one admission, so it does differ.

 

4) Back-to-basics. In January, you return back to the classroom for courses you have picked. Are they all useful? It depends. My favourite was forensic pathology, which was incredibly valuable since it wasn't taught previously. It is a low-stress commitment and is a nice break after doing clinical work for so long. After matching to residency, do you really want to be stuck doing a surgery rotation you could care less about? It also could allow you time to prepare for the LMCC (whether studying is helpful is another debate onto itself).

 

There are pros and cons to different systems. Each school has successful graduates, so be happy that you have the luxury to be able to pick the one best suited to your learning needs.

[Byrne]

If you're a Western student, you already have an idea of the student life -- that's one of the reasons I choise UWO for my undergrad and my two years in London have been some of my best so far.

[Gob]

I know people studying at most medical schools in the province and I think they would agree with me that Queens is NOT more prestigious than UWO. I think you'll also find within your first week that there really is not big difference in 'prestige' level in Canada.

 

That being said, our clerkship is renowned around the country. London is (IMHO) more fun than Kingston.

 

But in the end it comes down to which school you think will suit you best.

[lostintime]

Hey, I got accepted at Western and waitlisted at Queens. I'm pretty much set on giong to Western, but there's a small voice telling me to think it over whether I should decide to wait....since it is 4 years of my life.

 

Well here are my personal reasons for choosing Western, I'm not sure how accurate they are (and I realize this is kind of biased in this forum, maybe I'll post something in the Queens one too). Just for the record, both are amazing schools, and I think going to either one is awesome. Just a personal fit issue.

 

1) I've lived in Toronto for many years, I think it would be eaiser to transit to London rather than Kingston.

 

2) I also like the Western campus more than the Queens one, but this is potentially biased since I had no time to get a Queens tour and I already got a Western tour before entering undergrad.

 

3) I prefer getting tested more frequently than only twice a year.

 

4) Western has a very strong clerkship program (so I've heard). Queens starts clerkship half a year later.

 

Can anyone share reasons why they would choose Queens over Western? Thanks!

[1234]

1. Toronto

2. Western

3. Queens

4. Ottawa

5. Mac

6. NOMS

[Dante]

hahaha that list makes it simple enough... any reasons for the order?

 

I'm trying to chose between Western and Ottawa... leaning towards western, but still not clearly decided...

[Gob]

1. Toronto

2. Western

3. Queens

4. Ottawa

5. Mac

6. NOMS

 

Oh, well then. I wish this list was around when I applied.

[Superking25]

hahaha that list makes it simple enough... any reasons for the order?

 

I'm trying to chose between Western and Ottawa... leaning towards western, but still not clearly decided...

 

Choose Ottawa....

 

 

 

...and free up UWO waitlist seats

[1234]

the list is magic

 

how was it generated?

 

I have a fairly strong network of medical students, faculty, physicians, etc. Through discussions, in conjunction with matching, cARMs performance, the program inself and the opportunities that it provides, and the intangible "reputation" factor that many people are concerned with, this is the list that I generated for myself if I had multiple offers.

 

I did not factor in $$$. And lifestyle - unless your going to MAC (my educated opinion from substantial anecdotal evidence) - you're going to have a pretty heavy workload where ever you go. We are all smart. We'll be able to deal with it.

[1234]

Dante, go to western. Main reason: Strong clerkship, great city, well-organized program = They know how to train top-level physicians

[Painter]

I am also having a hard time deciding, although at the moment I am leaning towards Western.

 

For those of you who are already at UWO, there are a few (mostly trivial) questions floating around my head that maybe someone can answer:

 

Is it true that you have two afternoons off each week during the pre-clerkship years?

 

Does it bother you that your school year ends so late (end of May/early June vs. mid May at most other schools)? It also appears that you only have two weeks off at Christmas time (compared to three at some other schools).

 

People keep writing about how Queen's students have end of term exams and UWO students have exams at the end of each block. Looking at the public schedule on the UWO site, it appears that Western students have BOTH end of block and end of term exams - could someone please clarify?

 

Are the community Clinical Clerkship weeks and the rural weeks the only times that students are likely to have to complete placements outside of London, or are you often sent to other places during clerkship?

 

Is it easy to commute to and from the various hospitals without a car?

 

How necessary is it to have a shiny new laptop to take to class with you?

[Sheena815]

Is it true that you have two afternoons off each week during the pre-clerkship years?

 

People keep writing about how Queen's students have end of term exams and UWO students have exams at the end of each block. Looking at the public schedule on the UWO site, it appears that Western students have BOTH end of block and end of term exams - could someone please clarify?

 

Both these things are correct, as of last year anyway. There was a thread around here somewhere where someone described it.

 

...actually, I just searched the link: http://www.premed101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25752&highlight=curriculum

 

Is it easy to commute to and from the various hospitals without a car?

 

A current student might be able to answer this more accurately, but there is a hospital on campus, and Victoria, which is a fair ways down on the other side of town. But, I do find the london bus services pretty decent. For instance, I lived across the street from campus, and there was a busstop going into campus there (at the richmond gates) and this year between 10:10 and 10:25 there were SEVEN frakking buses that went onto campus and got me right to my building. Which was awesome. It was hard to justify walking! I actually do plan to buy a cheapo car myself, simply because I am sick of the bus regardless, and want the extra convenience. Plus, I do not want to have to live near campus anymore (ie. in noisy, decrepit buildings full of ...other students. No offense to students intended, but... yeah.)

[ploughboy]

Are the community Clinical Clerkship weeks and the rural weeks the only times that students are likely to have to complete placements outside of London, or are you often sent to other places during clerkship?

 

You have to do a minimum of 4 weeks community/rural. You won't be placed outside of London over and above that unless you specifically ask to be.

 

Is it easy to commute to and from the various hospitals without a car?

 

That depends on how many friends with cars you have in the class. Trying to get from one end of the city to another at odd hours (eg to pre-round on patients, or if you're stuck late at the hospital) is probably difficult and time-consuming. I wouldn't know for sure, as I have a car.

 

On the other hand, a few people in my class are doing a "car free" clerkship. The school is supportive of that: eg if you live near campus you can ask to be placed at University Hospital for as many rotations as possible (or if you're in the south end you can ask to be placed at Vic). You'll still have to travel to other sites for teaching, but so will everybody else in your clerkship group so you can likely catch a ride. Where there's a will, there's a way.

 

 

How necessary is it to have a shiny new laptop to take to class with you?

 

 

Depends on your study habits. Probably about half of my class brought some sort of laptop/PDA to class, but probably half of _them_ were on the web, chatting on MSN or doing things un-related to lecture.

 

Good luck with your decision. You can't go wrong either way!

[blinknoodle]

Does it bother you that your school year ends so late (end of May/early June vs. mid May at most other schools)? It also appears that you only have two weeks off at Christmas time (compared to three at some other schools).

 

It didn't bother me. To be honest, I didn't know the differences between medical schools.

 

Are the community Clinical Clerkship weeks and the rural weeks the only times that students are likely to have to complete placements outside of London, or are you often sent to other places during clerkship?

 

You can also choose to do rural locations where you could commute from London.

 

Is it easy to commute to and from the various hospitals without a car?

 

You definitely don't need a car during pre-clerkship. Clerkship is more difficult without a car, but some students opt for a car-free clerkship.

 

How necessary is it to have a shiny new laptop to take to class with you?

Not necessary. A good printer a must, unless you plan on studying from a computer screen.

[coffeequeen12]

I would highly recommend going anywhere EXCEPT Western